cornuto

Cornuto tried to hit me in the balls, but he missed," Gnocco said.

(See the Italian insult cornuto).

A common Italian word for cuckolded is cornuto, which literally means "horned," and this is the probable origin of the insulting meaning of the gesture.

The Magnificent Cuckold or Il magnifico cornuto is a 1965 Italian film directed by Antonio Pietrangeli and adapted from the 1921 Belgian play with the same name.

The il cornuto, or devil horns, hand gesture, also widespread, was popularized by vocalist Ronnie James Dio while with Black Sabbath and Dio.

No-one can remember why Rocca Canterano, a village near Rome, decided to host the Festa del Cornuto, but the main thing is it cheers those who have been given cuckold's horns.

In the Italian version of The Black Cauldron, Horned King was called Re Cornelius (King Cornelius) because the Italian word for horned (cornuto) also means cuckold.

A pervasive metaphor parodies the use of cornuto to great effect: il bue che dà del cornuto all'asino, meaning the ox labelling the donkey cornute, equivalent to pot calling the kettle black.

Instead of saying "Un cappuccino e un cornetto, per favore" - a coffee and a croissant, please - she had been ordering "Un cappu ccino e un cornuto, per favore" - a coffee and a cuckold, please.